Official 2013 Draft thread

Magnificently. Dynamite athlete and defender. Kid has game.

 

It's going to be really hard to split the hairs between Smart, Oladipo, McLemore, and Muhammad.

 

Agreed... though I'd throw Otto Porter in there with that group, too. I'd be absolutely thrilled if the Blazers were able to add any of those five players. In terms of their potential impact in the NBA, I'd currently rank them as follows (based on what I've seen from each guy at their respective schools):

1. Otto Porter -- good-to-great in pretty much every facet of the game; offensively & defensively. An extremely well-rounded player with huge, huge potential, in my opinion.

2. Victor Oladipo -- not quite as big or well-rounded as Porter, but possesses an absolutely dominant skill-level at the defensive end. Combined with his offensive efficiency & ability to handle the ball a bit, I really like him as a prospect.

3. Marcus Smart -- like Oladipo, Smart also possesses a dominant defensive skill-set, but I'm not quite as sold on him at the offensive end, yet. Reminds a bit of a PG version of Ron Artest, at SJU, without the crazy.

4. Shabazz Muhammad - Great offensive skill-set, which looks like it'll transfer over to the NBA pretty seamlessly, but there are a few red flags with Shabazz, in my opinion, as it pertains to the defensive end of the floor, as well as some intangibles. He could definitely end up as the best of this bunch, if he continues to improve upon his weaknesses.

5. Ben McLemore - I love his ability to score off-the-ball, but he doesn't quite have the ball handling ability to create much for himself or for others. I love watching him come off of screens and fill it up from the perimeter, I just think he has quite a bit to add to his game in order to make a big impact in the NBA.

 

I can't think of a more overrated prospect in a long time than Shabazz Muhammed.

lol, 24 assists this year in 24 games.

 

Damn... Could be worse though. Will Barton has 27 in 53 games.

 

his body language reminds me of drummond, in that he doesnt really give 2 shits about playing in school

i think he steps it up big time next year in the nba, but i guess we will see

 

serge ibaka has 95 assists in 281 career games

 

Barton barely plays though. Muhammed barely gets off the floor.

 

Matthew Dellavedova's got me intrigued as a second round pick. I just watched him have one of his worst shooting nights of the year, and he still left me with the impression that I'd want him on my team. Despite the poor FG%, I know he's a good shooter. I've seen enough of him over the years to understand that, and he had the balls to not only take but also drill the clutch, OT-forcing three, despite being something like 1-10 from the field to that point.

Every time I watch him, it just seems like he has eyes in the back of his head as a floor general. He's also listed at great size for a point guard (although I think he'll probably show up an inch or two shorter at the combine).

I don't understand why he's not talked about more as a draft prospect. I'd guess lack of exposure has something to do with it, but Dellavedova has been the man for St. Mary's since he was a freshman, so I don't really know if that's the case.

Maybe you could shine some more light on this one, Zags, because I really only catch him a couple of times a year, mostly when they play Gonzaga, in the WCC/NCAA tournament, and the random game like when they played Vandy a year or two back. Everytime I see him though, I'm more impressed.

 

A couple things on why I don't think he's a great NBA prospect:

He's a shoot first PG with an awkward low release shot. He doesn't seem very strong with any ability to drive with power and even though he makes great passes every once in awhile to set his teammates up, I don't think he's a great floor general and a natural PG.

 

You really think he's more shoot-first, rather than just a player that knows he's the best scorer on his team? I mean, he's got some talent around him, but he's probably the best offensive threat they've got. I remember in the last game against the Zags, he was making a lot of great passes, but his teammates just weren't making the shots, so he had to take over himself offensively. I mean, he does put up 6.4 apg, which is #15 in the NCAA right now, and in that top 15, only Trey Burke and Larry Drew III have a better A/TO.

I'll have to watch his shot release in tomorrow's game though, never really noticed that one to be honest.

 

Glad your going to tune in. Its going to be a usual bloodbath type game. Watch my boy Gary Bell Jr. He'll be guarding Delly and will keep him in check.

 

Of course man! I always try to check out the St. Marys/Gonzaga match-ups... one of the most underrated rivalry games in all of college sports. Also interested to see how Brad Waldow does against Olynyk/Harris. He was kinda nonexistent in that last match-up, but he played with such intensity against San Diego, I'm wondering if that carries over.

 

Waldow's pretty good. But, San Diego's bigs are a bunch of stiffs.

The guy in the WCC that I was most impressed with was Anthony Ireland. Kid could ball. I personally think it was a down year for the league.

 

Who can we get in round two? That's what needs to be discussed.

 

Looking at the projections of who the "mocks" have in the second round, Myck Kabongo's projected in the 2nd on Draftexpress, but realistically, Kabongo's a late lotto/mid-first talent who just got knocked down in the mocks initially for being unfairly suspended for 90% of the season. He's a guy that should be in serious conversation for a potential Blazers lottery pick, but according to Draftexpress, he's currently at #37, right before the Blazers' pick. I don't see that happening unless he gets hurt or something else that hurts his stock surfaces though.

There are also some players that the Blazers should avoid like the plague (ie: Russ Smith), but at the end of the day, the Blazers are in a good position at #8 in the second round to snap up a first round talent that has free-fallen. It's kind of hard to say who that'll be at this point.

With their later pick though, I like Trevor Mbakwe, who we were talking about earlier in this thread. I think he'd not only be a decent fit for the Blazers, but I just like his approach to the game in general. He's a great rebounder, great defensive presence, and will probably be passed over by a lot of people because of his height, age, and maybe even his legal troubles, but at the end of the day the guy is an athletic beast that has the potential to be a long-term role player in the league.

 

Seth Curry
CJ Leslie
Patric Young
Jamaal Franklin

I think they'd all be worth a look. Haven't seen much of Patric Young this year, though.

*Based on mid to late second rounders*

 

Probably someone who's not as good as Will Barton.